Triarii
Description Upon first glance, one might voice criticisms of the Triarii assault BattleMech. It cannot fully dissipate the heat it produces, it makes no particular attempt at cost savings (being expensive, as all 100 ton BattleMechs invariably are), carries what some might deem unneccessarily large quantities of ammunition for it's missile weapons, and for an essentially 'longe range battle' design, is equipped with almost the most armor that the chassis can carry. Understanding the BattleMech's strengths requires understanding the role is has been designed to carry out. The Triarii is a product of experience. Named after an ancient Roman military unit that fought with long spears to keep the enemy at bay, like it's namesake the Triarii is designed to hold the battle line from afar, keeping the enemy at bay with it's long range firepower. Noting the tendency of many designers to outfit assault 'Mechs with devastating, yet heavily ammunition-dependent weapons, the Triarii's designers sought from the beginning to create a 'Mech that could fight many battles without support. The Triarii's ammunition-independent main weapons, paired Lord's Lights PPCs, combine with the twin Doombud LRM-5s to produce devastating long range barrages. Twin LRM-5s with two tons of ammunition each were chosen over a single larger LRM unit so that if one unit should be disabled or destroyed, the Triarii will still have the use of LRM fire. Each LRM-5 can fire 48 salvoes before running out of ammunition. The use of 27 heat sinks allows this long range firepower to be maintained almost indefinitely with only basic heat control. Should the enemy close within range, the Triarii has a powerful short range punch with twin Coventry SRM-4s to exploit breaches in armor caused by the long range barrage. Both SRM-4s are equipped with a ton of ammunition for repeated firing. For anti-personnel combat, the Triarii is equipped with a single SperryBrowning heavy Machine Gun mounted within the center torso, equipped with a full ton of ammunition. The Triarii carries over eighteen and a half tons of Durallex Heavy armor, giving it powerful protection and the ability to sustain damage through multiple encounters. It's heat sinks have been placed so as to protect critical weapons systems. Additionally, the heat sinks have been placed so as to complement the Triarii's role; one has been placed within the BattleMech's head so as to ensure pilot comfort and safety throughout repeated firings, and four have been placed in the legs so as to exploit the use of water such as rivers and lakes to help dissipate heat. All critical systems are equipped with redundant backups when practical, so as to ensure the operation of all systems through multiple battles. Finally, the designers have maintained a lower arm/hand assembly on each arm, accepting the higher cost so as to give the Triarii maximum flexibility. Armament 2 Lord's Light PPCs 2 Doombud LRM-5s 2 Coventry SRM-4s 1 SperryBrowning Machine Gun Variants One trialled variant of the Triarii replaces the LRM-5s and SRM-4s with twin LRM-10s, each equipped with two tons of ammunition. Additionally, the Machine Gun was replaced with a Small Laser for further ammunition independence. While this variant obviously increased the long range firepower of the Triarii, the decline in short range firepower was deemed too great a loss, and in battle trials the Small Laser proved to be nowhere near as effective as the Machine Gun in anti-personnel combat. The role of the Triarii (and any other 'long range battle' Level I BattleMech) is limited by technology. Future modernized variants of the Triarii including developments such as CASE, Artemis IV, jump jets, Endo Steel chassis, and XL Engines (to take advantage of it's many unused critical slots and increase it's average speed) and Targeting Computers could vastly improve the Triarii's role. Created using The Drawing Board 2.0.23 Category:BattleMechsCustom